Friday, December 07, 2012

1. Life for a parent of a young
toddler is filled with moments like the following.

I had just picked
up Pumpkin from daycare. While I was fishing for my keys in the parking lot outside, she
kept pointing back to "school". She likes me to point out some figures of
animals (a snail, a frog, two turtles, and a salamander) in the garden near the
entrance when we arrive or leave. Thinking she wanted me to do that again, I
obliged, then went back towards the car. Then I heard a train coming before I
could open the car. Pumpkin loves trains, so I told her and pointed to the
nearby MetroLink crossing. Afterwards, she tapped my chest. "Yes. I'm your
Daddy," I said. Then she pointed to school. "Yes, honey, that's your school.
We're going to go pick up Momma now and head home. It's time to go home." Then
she tapped on my chest again, and then she pointed at the daycare again. She likes being
told about things a lot, but this seemed a little excessive.

Then, out of the
blue, I realized I'd forgotten her sleeping blanket and went back to retrieve
it.

It was only at some time later that I realized she was probably
trying to get me to go back and get her blanket. I'm glad she stalled me long
enough for me to bumble into doing what she wanted!

3. Some time back, John Cook posted a
profound observation about the need to achieve closure in order to focus over the
long term, and do truly interesting things. After a couple of relevant quotes,
Cook observes that, "It's taken me a long time to understand that
deliberately closing off some options can open more interesting options." [bold added]

On top of how impressive they are at gaining new information, they also impress at the kinds of skills they develop. Even the simplest things, like poring water into a cup, are actually quite complicated, as I am learning by observing my daughter learning to do them for the first time.